Sony, fresh off a security breach and launching a brand-new portable, had a lot to address at Monday night's event. They certainly answered a lot of it.

The show doesn't really get going until Monday's suite of conferences, but that doesn't mean companies don't get a bit overeager and release things before then. Here's a roundup of the early news.

Yes, again, Sony has been hacked. This time hacker group Lulz Security is taking credit for the attack on SonyMusic.co.jp.

"This isn't a 1337 h4x0r, we just want to embarrass Sony some more," the hackers said in a note mocking Sony which also delivered a warning of two other vulnerable data bases.

Does it make you think twice ... or thrice about your online accounts?

Bloomberg News is reporting that Apple has reached an agreement with three major record labels to let people who use their new music service access their songs from handheld devices via the Internet. It's quoting people "with knowledge of the deals."

The news has implications for North Carolina. The data and networking demands of such usage will be accomodated at the $1 billion data center Apple has built in western North Carolina.

At the company's annual shareholder meeting earlier this year, executives said the Maiden facility would be a hub for its iTunes and MobileMe services. The 184,000 facility is expected to open any day now.

Apple selected the site site in 2009 and was expected to open it last year. The entire facility encompasses about 500,000 square feet, and will also support Apple's corporate systems.

Earlier this week, CNET reported that Apple had signed a licensing agreement with EMI Music and that it already had a deal with Warner Music. That just left Sony Music and Universal Music to succumb to Apple's considerable, uh, charms.

The deals basically mean this: If you buy music from iTunes, Apple's online store, you can store it on Apple's servers and then access it online rather than downloading each song onto your computer, iPod or tablet.

Sony's long-awaited "Welcome Back" package of free content for the return of the PlayStation Store has been detailed. PS3 users can choose two of the following five games: LittleBigPlanet, InFamous, Dead Nation, Super Stardust HD and Wipeout HD + Fury. PSP owners can get two of LittleBigPlanet PSP, ModNation Racers, Pursuit Force and Killzone Liberation. 

Players can redeem these within 30 days of the service returning. There are also some other free perks, including free movie rentals. (That list is after the break.) You can check out Sony's blog post for more.

The long wait is over, mostly. Sony has finally begun the process of restoring PlayStation Network services, starting with online multiplayer functionality. 

The service has been down since April 20, after a security breach resulted in some of users' account information being compromised. Sony decided to rebuild the network completely in response, and all PSN and Qriocity services have been down since.

The service's return comes with a PS3 system update, requiring all users to change account passwords. Sony promises that the PlayStation Store will return soon.

Here's the announcement video, and here's a map detailing the status of PSN restoration.

Sony launched a music streaming service in a bid to boost sales of its consumer electronics and break Apple's dominance of the online music business.

Be sure watch the video from Sony on the jump

Here is another video tease for the GT5 faithful that feature new cars from Mercedes, Ferrari among some familiar grills from Audi, Lamborghini and others.

It took Sony nearly a whole day to even acknowledge the the bug. Meanwhile, the user online community was on it like white on rice schooling Sony.

Sony was obviously caught by surprise. What should Sony have done differently?  Here is an interesting retrospect on the debacle from PCWorld..